451 




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Gass S45I 

Book -H^ A^ 




AHono^raph 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 



The Purpose of This Booklet /x'^na <\ 

How the Railroads Can Help the Homeseeker ,> ^o n^*^ 

This booklet is issued by the Agricultural Section of the Jefferson City, Mo., August 19, 1919 

United States Railroad Administration, J. L. Edwards, Manager, Missouri grows (and grows well) more kinds of field and fruit 

Washington, D. C. and garden crops, and produces more kinds of live stock profit- 

The information was compiled by the Agricultural Repre- gbly, than any other state under "The Flag That Never Knew 

sentatives of the railroads serving the State of Missouri: Defeat." Second in winter wheat, third in live stock, seventh 

The articles on the State's more important industries and j^ population, ninth in wealth, and eighteenth in land area, 

possibilities are contributed by recognized authorities. the farm production (including field, farm and forest) amounted. 

The purpose of the booklet is to help direct ambitious and ;„ tj,e year 1918, to the colossal grand total of $940,504,910. 

industrious home-makers and producers desiring to better their ..^ Properly Balanced State," at every angle of agricultural 

condition in life, to localities where they should meet with sue- effort, a good place in which to live, the coming center of the 

cess, in proportion to their resources and ability. dairy industry, Missouri only needs to be better known— and 

Owing to limited space, detailed information is not attempted, ,^,j,en better known our land values will increase a hundred 

but should the reader desire any special information on any pg^ cent, 
subject connected with any branch of farming, or stock raising 

in any locality in Missouri it can be secured by writing to Missouri is indeed "A Land of Diversified Plenty." This 
or calling upon the address stamped on the last page of Commonwealth is not famous for any one particular crop, but, 
this booklet. instead, it is celebrated for the unmatchable variety of its prod- 
State fully just what is desired. Prompt and dependable ucts of field and garden and orchard. Missouri does not place 
information will be furnished. all "f 'ts eggs into any one basket. In 1917 fifth in farm crops. 

as compared to the other forty-seven states of the American 

nation, and outranking all states with 124 per cent on condition 

Jefferson City. August 1, 1919 total of all standard crops. (U.S. Report, end of growing season.) 

The State of Missouri was endowed by Nature with a multi- O""" la"d surface covers 43,958,280 acres. Of this area 34,591,248 

tude of varied treasures of soils and minerals, located as it is acres are in 277,244 farms, averaging 124.8 acres each. That Mis- 

in the heart of the com belt, with the very largest measure of soun is also a "Land of Opportunity" today for the homeseeker 

rivers, and being the best watered of any of the states in the a"^ investor is evidenced by the fact that millions of acres still 

American Union. await the dairyman, the horticulturist, and the general farmer 

The experience of the centuries has established at least one yet to come from other states where land is selling from five to 

unquestionable and undebatable fact, namely, that the per- ten times more per acre than the price at which new land can 

manency and the profitableness of the agriculture of a community now be bought in Southern and many Central Missouri counties, 

or country is finally based upon the development of its live stock This booklet we believe to be a messenger of absolute truth, 

and the quality of its citizenship. portraying without exaggeration many of our present possibili- 

No other state in the Union is in such splendid financial ties in profitable agriculture, 
condition as is Missouri. She has no floating indebtedness of 
any kind and only a very small bond issue covering the cost 
of the new capitol, which will be retired in a few years. Property 
is assessed in the State at about one-third of its true value. 
The State rate is fifteen cents per hundred, in other words, 
five cents per hundred on its face value. No other state can 
approach such a low tax rate. 

Fifty-three and seven-tenths per cent of the gross revenue Secretary, State Board of Agriculture 
receipts of Missouri are set aside for educational purposes. Just 

now a great boom for good roads is on in the State. We expect 

within five years to have completed a system of 6,000 miles 

of hard-surfaced roads in the State. . ._, jr>ji-ioio 

Missouri is the eighteenth State in area, yet is the fifth State Missouri Crops and rroducts in ISIO 

as compared to the other forty-seven units of our Government, ^ ^ Logan and Jewell Mayes, of the United States Department 

this being based upon the tabulations of the years, counting of Agriculture and State Board of Agriculture, 

small fruits and all the smaller lines of farm production, along ~, - , ,,. . j j • ,,^,„ • r j 

with wheat and the major crops. Viewed from the larger angle The State of Missouri produced in 1918, m farm garden 

of profitable live stock production in its broader economic relation ?"l°:*3„''fl"°P^-. $462,856,000; in other products of the farm, 

to agriculture and home economics, Missouri ranks still higher $477,648,910, totaling in farm production $940,504,910 Besides 

as among the very first in apples, com, hogs and cattle, and this, the live stock on hand, on January 1, 1919,worth$406,862,- 

other rural industries — and as the land of opportunity for coun- O"" as follows: 

try life investments and for home-building we believe that it Number Value 

is at this time the peer if not the superior of any state in any Horses 1,040,000 $95,680,000 

country. Allow me to congratulate Missourians upon this com- Mules 374,000 43,384,000 

pliment being paid by the United States Railroad Administra- Milch cows 919,000 68,006,000 

tion in the issuance of this deserving booklet on behalf of this Other cattle 1,782,000 88,031,000 

State, "Missouri — The State of Diversified Plenty." Sheep 1,539,000 20,315,000 

/Hogs 4,943,000 91,446,000 

L^ Total value of Hve stock , $406,862,000 

^-'^tT-^i-U^ . Total value of all farm products 940,504,910 

Govemor 1^^^ :»f J* Total value, products of the soil $1,347,360,910 





United Stat 



e s 



Railroad Administration 




A bunch of Missouri's 919,000 dairy cows. M:!!: .uid :i.iil. p; jJucts, 1918. $101,751,500 



Mis 



M. F. Miller, Acting Dean, Missouri Agricultural College 

Missouri is a state of great resources. Its soils, 
its mines, its fuel supply, its water power, its trans- 
portation facilities, both by rail and water, its large 
production of raw materials and its central location 
in the Mississippi Valley offer exceptional opportuni- 
ties for the farmer, the manufacturer, and the man 
engaged in commerce. The strategic position which 
Missouri occupies with reference not only to the 
states of the Middle West but also to the South and 
Southwest, insures a great commercial development. 
The State is a gateway to the states of the South and 
Southwest. The fact that Missouri has two of the 
thirteen Farm Loan Banks, one located in each of 
its two large cities, indicates the importance of her 
location. 

In agricultural opportunities Missouri holds a 
high place. Located at the very agricultural center 
of the United States and extending from the oat 
growing section of the North to the cotton growing 
region of the South, the State possesses a very wide 
range of cropping possibilities. No state produces a 
larger number of staple crops in quantity. Corn, 
oats, wheat, clover, alfalfa, timothy, bluegrass, cotton 
and fruit are extensively grown. Special crops, such 
as peaches, strawberries, melons, tomatoes and other 
truck crops, have a great commercial importance in 
those sections to which they are particularly adapted. 



souri 

It has been said with truth that no state is so nearly 
self-supporting in all the essentials to civilization as 
the State of Missouri. Abundant foodstuffs and 
clothing materials, rich mineral resources, including 
great quantities of coal and timber, abundant water 
power, and unlimited supplies of road materials, 
combine to supply the needs of the people. 

In total value of farm property, Missouri ranks 
fifth among the states, and she stands high in the pro- 
duction of the more important staples — corn, wheat, 
oats, cattle and hogs. The reason for this advance 
position lies primarily in the wide extent of fertile 
soil and in a climate which is both favorable for crop 
and animal production. No state has a wider range 
of agricultural lands. The black Corn Belt prairies 
occupy a large share of the northern half of the State, 
while the rich alluvial lands of the Missouri and Mis- 
sissippi rivers include an area equal to more than ten 
counties. No state, excepting those bordering the 
Mississippi to the south has such large areas of this 
rich alluvium. Iowa and Illinois alone surpass Mis- 
souri in the extent of fertile lands. 

The opportunities for the grain growers in Missouri 
are at once evident when the large extent of produc- 
tive soil is considered. The largest corn farm in the 
United States is located in northwestern Missouri. 
The acreage of wheat is increasing. Under stress of 
war conditions the area of wheat in Missouri was 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Missouri takes pride in her rural churches and schools. School enrollment, 1918-1919, was 410,539 



increased more than 25' f The oat crop is a staple 
one throughout the northern half of the State. Com- 
bined with clover and timothy these three staple 
grain crops — corn, oats and wheat- are grown in prac- 
tically all parts of the State. They are the basic 
crops of the the State's agriculture. 

The opportunities for the live-stock producer are as 
great as are those for the grain grower. Missouri 
could scarcely be better situated so far as location, 
soil and climate is concerned, for the development of 
the highest types of domestic animals. The principal 
grain feeds are produced in great quantities. The 
location is far enough south to escape the severe 
rigors of winter and far enough north to avoid the 
disadvantages which the southern cattle grower must 
meet. Bluegrass grows almost everywhere. Proba- 
bly no state has a larger acreage. In the midst of 
a large population, with the principal packing cities 
on the south, north and east, market facilities for 
live stock are excellent. Also the surplus breeding 
animals are readily absorbed by the rangers of the 
West and Southwest. There is no state in the Union in 
which farmers are so largely engaged in live-stock 
production as are the farmers of Missouri. 

The opportunities for the fruit grower, while not 
so general as those of the grain and live-stock farmer, 
are just as good, providing the right location is select- 
ed. The brown "loess" soil occupying the high land 
bordering the Missouri and Mississippi rivers is said 
by horticulturists to be the best apple soil in the world. 
The red limestone lands of southern Missouri produce 



both apples and small fruits, while in suitable loca- 
tions peaches are commercially profitable. Soil and 
climatic conditions combine to give excellent quality 
to these fruits. 

The farmer seeking a new location will find many 
opportunies in this State. Land similar in character 
to that of the states east and north sells at a much 
more moderate figure, although land values are 
constantly increasing. 

Schools 

By Sam A. Baker, Superintendent of Public 
Schools for Missouri 

The Missouri enrollment for the school term of 
1918-1919 was 410,539. In per cent of school popu- 
lation of children from five to eighteen years of age 
enrolled, Missouri has 81.8 per cent. At the present 
time Missouri has 160 consolidated school districts, 
137 of which offer high school courses. The number 
of consolidated schools has increased in the last ten 
years. The classified high schools of Missouri have 
increased from 296 to 605. The number of volumes 
in the libraries of the public schools of the State the 
past school year are approximately 1,894,204. In 
addition to the high schools Missouri has forty-one 
private academies, sixteen junior colleges, eleven 
private colleges and universities belonging to the 
College Union. There is one State University and 
five teachers' colleges in this State. 

The salaries of school teachers have been increased 
for the past four or five years. There has been a 



United States R 



a 1 1 r o a 



d Administration 




Missnun farmers at a horse-judging contest. Missouri has over a million horses — value, over $100,000,000 



marked increase this year. The county superinten- 
dents have had an increase of fifty per cent. The 
State has organized a department of vocational edu- 
cation under the provisions of the Smith-Hughes 
Act. The Legislature appropriated $205,000 to meet 
the Federal grant. A full time compulsory attend- 
ance law has been passed and part time schools 
provided for pupils who did not, or could not finish 
the grade work. Provisions have also been made 
for the establishment of schools, under certain condi- 
tions, for the blind, deaf and feeble-minded. On the 
whole, Missouri does a good part by the boys and 
girls of the State. 

The test of all educational effort is literacy and at 
present this State stands among the upper third of 
the states of the Union having the lowest per cent 
of illiteracy. 

Community Life 

C. C. Taylor, Department of Sociology, University of Missouri 

Community spirit and rural Missouri are literally 
synonymous terms. The first impression a stranger 
gets of the rural people of Missouri is of their whole- 
some and thorough going hospitality. It is not pro- 
verbial or traditional, it is simply natural for Mis- 
sourians. This State, especially certain sections of it, 
was settled earlier than any other part of the Central 
Valley. To say that a state is intensely rural and 
that the rural settlers are of old standing is always 
to say two things: that they have the old pioneer 
individualism and that they have a hospitality never 



found away from pioneer conditions. There is no 
question but what this individualism has been a 
hindrance to general co-operative community develop- 
ment in the State. Missouri has not the display of 
co-operative enterprises that some of the other states 
have. Missouri is just getting started in this field 
and there is no question but what the general spirit 
of hospitality which is manifested toward both stran- 
gers and neighbors offers fertile ground for some of 
the finest rural community organization work yet 
developed. 

The agencies having most directly to do with 
strictly community development are: the Extension 
Division of the College of Agricuture, the Farm Bu- 
reaus, the State Sunday School Association, the Federa- 
tion of Missouri Clubs, the State Department of 
Agriculture, the United States Department of Agri- 
culture, a number of commercial extension services 
and, of course, the rural press and numerous volunteer 
agencies of organization. 

There are approximately 10,000 churches in the 
State and eighty per cent of them are in rural com- 
munities. The spirit of co-operation between the sects 
in local communities and between denominations in 
the State are but the beginnings of "cashing in" this 
community spirit. There are many places where two 
or more denominations use the same buildings on 
different Sundays and also a goodly number where 
two or more denominations have joined forces in a 
community church. The big union Sunday school 
at Barnett with its project for a Sunday school 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Three Missouri "International" prize winners. Missouri stock-growers fully appreciate the value of registered breeding stock 

building is one of the notable pieces of rural reli- usually of short duration as are also periods of 

gious organization. extreme heat in summer. 

Probably the best organized effort in community Frost 

life is being done by the County Farm Bureaus. jj^e average date of the last killing frost in 

spring ranges from April 5th to 20th and the first 

CLIMATE killing frost in autumn from October 14th to 20th, 

■ „ , ,, , . ,, ^ ,., , r, varying a few days indifferent parts of the State. 

George Reeder, Meteorologist, U. S. Weather Bureau, 

Director of the Missouri Section Rainfall 

The average precipitation for each physiographic 

1 emperature division and for the State, as computed from all 

The highest annual mean temperature is found in available records for about fifty years to the end of 

the extreme southeastern counties, where it is about 1918, is as follows: 
sixty degrees, and the lowest in the extreme north- ' Northwestern plateau .. . 35.72 inches 

western counties, where it is slightly below fifty de- Northeastern plain 37.09 inches 

grees The variations m the annual mean tempera- Southwestern plain 37.24 inches 

ture from year to year rarely exceed three degrees q^^^j^ plateau 40.73 inches 

and often are less than one degree. Southeastern lowlands. . . 41.36 inches 

The warmest month of the year is July, with a For the State 38.53 inches 

mean temperature for the State of seventy-seven Nineteen Hundred and One was the only year of 

degrees, and the coldest is January, with a mean the fifty, however, in which the yearly fall was 

temperature of thirty degrees. The day temperature below thirty inches. The yearly distribution of 

will quite regularly reach ninety-five degrees, precipitation is favorable for the farmer, as the 

and occasionally exceed 100 degrees. During the heaviest rains usually fall during the spring and 

winter months the temperature sometimes falls five summer and lightest in the autumn and winter, 

to ten degrees below zero, but temperatures of twenty About 20.85 inches, or about fifty-four per cent of 

below zero are infrequent. During the winter, cold the annual amount, falls during the five principal 

waves occasionally sweep over Missouri and cause crop-growing months, April to August, inclusive, 

falls in temperature of from forty to sixty degrees in The mean annual relative humidity is about seventy 

twenty-four hours, but periods of severe cold are per cent. 

G 



United States Railroad Administration 



NESR. 



KANS. 



OKLA. 



I L LI NOIS 



MS DON. 



-3T.L0UIS 
I CITY COUNTY 




ARK 



TENN. 



SEVEN DISTINCT SOIL REGIONS 

M. F. Miller, Department of Soils 

The soil and crop conditions in Missouri vary 
widely. The northern half of the State is typical 
of the corn belt with corn belt crops predominating. 
Much of the southern half is rolling to rough in 
topography with opportunities for live-stock produc- 
tion, dairying and fruit growing. Six counties of 
southeast Missouri are alluvial in character. It may 
be said, therefore, that the conditions in Missouri 



allow a range of crops extending from oat production 
in the sections bordering Iowa to cotton production 
in the sections of the extreme southeastern part of 
the State. 

Roughly speaking the State of Missouri may be 
divided into seven rather distinct soil regions. Natur- 
ally there is a wide range of soil types in each of these 
regions, although the general character of the country 
is rather distinct in each. These regions are shown 
on the above map. 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plent 




TDck bams and silos. M:;- - -r fast 

realizing the importance - : »_ ^ s 

The first regicm is that of the rolling black prairie 
land of northwesteni Missotni. This land ranks among 
the best in the com belt. The principal crops grown 
are com, oats, wheat, clover, alfalfa, timothy and 
bhi^rass. The region is one of grain and live-stock 
farming. Land values range form $75 to $250 an 
acre. 

The second region is that of north central Missociri 
consisting largely of glacial soils. This region is one 
of rolling dark prairies with some timber land along 
the streams. The soils are generally high in fertility. 
The principal crops are com, oats, wheat, clover, blue- 
grass and timothy. The land values range from $60 
to $175 an acre. 

The third region is that of the level to gently roll- 
ing prairie region of northeastern Missouri- The 
soils are generally fertile, although not so fertile as 
those of northwestern or north central Missouri. The 
principa] crops grown are com. oats, wheat, clover, 
timothy and bluegrass. Land values range from $50 
to $150 an acre. 

The fourth regicai is that of the level to gently 
re'- - rie country of southwestern Missouri, a 

reg. rwhat similar to that of northeastern Mis- 

souri. The la-n-rl is generally fertile. The principal 
crops grown are com. oats, wheat, clover, timothy, 
bluegrass and some alfalfa. T^nd values range from 
$40 to $150 an acre. 

The fifth region is that commonly known as the 
Ozark border region. It is a region of rolling and in 



A inH cabin. 



This little fa=ily 
good home garderi 



That a real 



some cases rough topography with a wide variety 
of soils, mostly from Hmestone. The principal crops 
grown are com, oats, wheat, clover, timothy, blue 
grass, cowpeas, some alfalfa, and among the fruits, 
apples and strawberries, ^ well as other small fruits. 
Land values vary widely, the range extending from 
$20 an acre in the rougher lands to $150 an acre in 
the better areas. 

The sixth region is that known as the Ozark up- 
land. This is a region of rough topography, mainly 
the better agricultural lands being found in the valleys 
and bottoms. There are also ojjportunities for dairy- 
ing and in some sections for fruit growing. The soils 
are extremely variable, riniiiiTig from rough and rocky 
upland to excellent bottom lands. Land values rar^e 
from $5.00 in the rough regions to $100 an acre in the 
better vallejrs and bottoms. 

The seventh region is that of the lowlands of 
the southeastern part of the State in which might be 
included the great areas of bottom lands along the 
Missouri and Mississippi rivers. This is a region of 
great opportunity. The soils are generally very fertile, 
some of them extremely so. Very large areas of com, 
wheat, alfalfa, and in the southern sections, cotton 
is grown. In certain sections special crops are produced 
such as watermelons, cantaloupes, and rice. Land 
values range from $40 an acre in the undevelop)ed 
swamp lands to $300 an acre in the highly improved 
regions. 



United States Railroad Administration 




Missouri, "The Home of the Big Red Apple." Missouri's 1917 apple and fruit crop, valued at $14,762,500 

Extension Service of the College of Agriculture 



A. J. Meyer, Director Agri. Ex. Service, Columbia, Mo. 

Through years of careful study and investigation, 
the Agricultural Experiment Station has assembled 
the important facts that farmers need to know in 
order to farm successfully in any part of the State. 
Through the Agricultural Extension Service this in- 
formation is made directly and promptly available to 
all the inhabitants of Missouri. 

Over half the counties of the State have been pro- 
vided with County Agricultural Agents. More than 
one sixth of Missouri's counties are supplied with 
County Home Demonstration Agents. All of these 
agents are joint representatives of the College of 
Agriculture and the County Farm Bureaus of the 
counties in which they are located. They are charged 
with the responsibility of carrying forward a program 
of agricultural and rural development. This program 
is developed by conference between the College and 
the County Farm Bureau in each county. 

As a means of supporting the county work, the 
state college has a large force of men and women 
who are specialists in various lines, including animal 
husbandry, dairy husbandry, poultry husbandry, 
horticulture, entomology, farm management, farm 
marketing, farm engineering, veterinary science, soils, 
farm crops and home economics. These lines receive 
further specialization by having individual workers 
give their whole time to special phases of the more 
important divisions of agriculture. For example, in 



the animal husbandry work there are provided spe- 
cialists in swine production, in sheep production and 
beef cattle production. The home economics group 
includes specialists in foods, in sewing, in household 
sanitation and health. 

The Agricultural Extension Service issues circulars 
on practically every phase of farming and home making. 
These circulars do not attempt to describe investiga- 
tions but are written for the special purpose of tell- 
ing in simple, straightforward language, how to per- 
form the various operations of the farm and the home. 

The farm boy and girl is not forgotten in the plan 
of extension service administered by the College. 
Every community in the State has an equal opportu- 
nity, provided it has the initiative, to organize boys 
and girls between the ages of ten and eighteen years 
into clubs for the purpose of conducting, under in- 
structions suited to the age and conditions of these 
young people, such lines of work as corn growing, 
potato raising, gardening, poultry raising, pig feed- 
ing, calf raising, sewing, canning, baking, and various 
other lines which local needs may indicate. 

The significance of the foregoing necessarily brief 
description of the Agricultural Extension Service lies 
in the fact that every community in the State has 
it in its power and within easy reach to take advantage 
of practical, usable information which has been 
gathered at great expense in time and money in 
order that the farmer, the housewife and the farm 
boy and girl may not have to spend years in learning, 
by experience, facts and methods which are already 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Missouri — third in com — only exceeded by Iowa and Illinois. Missouri's 1917 com crop was 252,000.000 bushels 



available as a result of investigation by the Agricul- 
tural Experiment Station and by a study of the 
experiences of thousands of farmers and farm people 
under all conditions that exist in Missouri. 

Missouri College of Agriculture and 
Experiment Station 

M. F. Miller, Acting Dean Missouri College of Agriculture 
Improvement in agricultural practice in any state 
is largely dependent upon educational agencies. The 
colleges of agriculture and experiment stations are the 
most important of these. The Missouri College of 
Agriculture and the Agricultural Experiment Station 
rank among the leading institutions of this kind in the 
Corn Belt. These institutions are maintained by the 
State and Federal governments and the work they are 
doing is solely for the benefit of agriculture. They are 
the farmers' own institutions and every use should be 
made of the facilities and of the information which 
these institutions possess. 

The work of the Missouri College of Agriculture 
includes instruction to large numbers of students at 
Columbia as well as instruction through the Extension 
Service designed to reach the people on the farms 
throughout the State. The instruction at Columbia 
consists of a four -year course in agriculture, a short 
agricultural course two winters in length, a special 
short course in dairying and one in home economics. 
There is also a week's farmers' short course of a 
general'nature held each winter. This is attended by 
hundreds of Missouri farmers. 



It is the business of the Agricultural Experiment 
Station to assist the farmer in solving problems which 
he encounters on the farm. The work consists of ex- 
periments along the lines of soil and crop management, 
fruit-growing, gardening, feeding and breeding of farm 
animals, breeding and care of poultry, and the control 
of insects and of plant diseases. These experiments 
include practically all problems on which the farmer 
needs help. 

FARM CROPS 

W. C. Etheridge, Farm Crop Specialist 
Missouri College of Agriculture 

Corn. Although corn production in Missouri is 
especially diversified, no other state grows more impor- 
tant kinds of crops on a larger scale — Corn is King. The 
annual production of the State during the past ten 
years has averaged nearly 190 million bushels — often it 
has been more than 200 million — sometimes upward of 
250 million. Several counties each make the five-million 
mark. And the striking feature of Missouri com is 
that it ranks higher in quantity than in acreage: fifth in 
acreage, third in quantity produced, among the corn 
crops of all other states. A fine showing for the Mis- 
souri climate, soil and farming methods. 

Missouri corn is unsurpassed in quality. The long 
growing season and fertile soil make ideal conditions 
for the production of sound, well-matured grain — ^just 
the kind for seed corn. And, perhaps, no other state 
is so often called upon to furnish seed corn to its 
neighbors. 



10 



United State 



R 



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o n 




Wheat is grown profitably in all Missouri counties — one of Missouri's greatest crops 



Boone County White and Reid's Yellow Dent have 
been found by the Missouri Agricultural Experiment 
Station to be the most widely adapted varieties. 
St. Charles Yellow and St. Charles White are next in 
rank, the white variety being widely grown in the rich 
delta region of southeast Missouri. The use of sound 
matured seed of an adapted variety, thorough prepara- 
tion of the seedbed, a light application of phosphatic 
fertilizer on the average soil, thorough cultivation — 
these are the main practices in corn growing urged by 
the Missouri College of Agriculture. 

Wheat 

Missouri is also great in the production of wheat. 
During the past ten years she has ranked fourth or 
fifth in the winter crop, yielding nearly thirty-five 
million bushels annually. In yield per acre and in 
market quality of the grain, the Missouri wheat crop 
stands high among the crops of other states. In com- 
parative freedom from diseases and insects Missouri 
wheat is among the first. No other important wheat 
state is less troubled by the dreaded rusts and smuts; 
and in no other are the Hessian fly and chinch bug 
less prevalent. 

By long investigation the Missouri Agricultural 
Experiment Station has found Fulcaster, Poole and 
Fultz — all soft winter wheat — to be the leading types 
for this State. They will usually out -yield all other 
varieties, except in the northwest corner of the State, 
where frequently a variety of hard winter wheat, such 
as Turkey, will better withstand winter-killing. The 



use of an adapted variety, midsummer plowing in 
beginning the preparation of the seedbed, a moderate 
application of phosphatic fertilizer, and the treatment 
of the seed for smut, are the main practices for the 
production of the best wheat crops in Missouri. 

Oats 

Among all the states Missouri ranks fourteenth in 
the production of oats. The crop is crowded out of a 
higher rank by the enormous acreage of corn, which 
utilizes most of the land available for spring crops and 
supports the high standing of the State in the produc- 
tion of hogs. But in spite of the restrictions on her 
oats crop, Missouri turns out the fine average annual 
yield of about thirty-seven million bushels. 

The most important measures for making the best 
crops of oats in Missouri are the use of early or 
medium early varieties, the treatment of the seed for 
smut, and early seeding. Kherson, Sixty-Day and 
Early Champion, are the best early varieties, with 
Burt or Red Rustproof — medium early varieties — the 
ne.xt choice. 

Barley and Rye 

Although Missouri can grow good crops of spring 
barley and rye, these are of minor importance in the 
production of grain. Considerable rye is sawn for 
pasture and green manure and makes an excellent 
growth for these purposes; but barley is now practi- 
cally limited to its use of early summer feed, for which 
purpose it must compete with a number of other crops. 



M 



1 s s o u r 



i — the State 



f D 



1 V e r 



sified Plenty 




Missouri, a leader in alfalfa, tame hay, blue grass, etc. Missouri, in 1917, produced 4,500,000 tons of hay 



There is a good possibility, which the Experiment Sta- 
tion will investigate, that winter barley may prove 
successful in southeast Missouri. If the crop can with- 
stand winter-killing it will undoubtedly yield very 
heavily in that section. 

Bluegrags 

Missouri is unsurpassed in bluegrass. It has been 
said that she has more bluegrass than all the states 
north of her northern border or south of her southern 
border. Bluegrass is grown in every Missouri County 
with the possible exception of a few counties in the 
southern part of the State. Its annual grazing value 
has been estimated at from twenty to thirty million 
dollars, and this does not take into account the seed 
crop, whose value has become very important in 
several sections. 

In palatability and endurance a bluegrass pasture 
is unequaled and its value to the Missouri live-stock 
farmer can hardly be overestimated. It furnishes 
good feed in early spring and throughout the summer, 
except when dry weather sometimes limits the growth 
during July and August. But even when the growth 
is limited in late summer, early fall rains will so revive 
it that fine pasturage is furnished for the fall and often 
for almost the entire winter except when snow covers 
the ground. All kinds of stock thrive well on blue- 
grass — the experienced cattle feeder has found his 
cheapest gains from feeding on bluegrass; the hog 
feeder also pastures with profit. 



Alfalfa 

Alfalfa is at home in Missouri. Not only because 
of its natural adaptiveness to very many sections of 
the State, but also because the average Missouri 
farmer, in spite of the occasional failures of alfalfa he 
may have witnessed, has almost an affectionate regard 
for the crop. The striking increase of nearly sixty per 
cent in acreage during the last ten years indicates the 
esteem in which this excellent forage is held. 

Alfalfa thrives in Missouri and contributes its 
share toward making the State one of the leaders in 
the production of hay. Nowhere does it succeed better 
than in the lowest areas along the Missouri and Mis- 
sissippi rivers and in northwest Missouri, in southeast 
Missouri, and in a few counties of southwest Missouri. 
On these soils the crop grows vigorously with little 
or no assistance. Inoculation, applications of lime, 
stable manure, and phosphatic fertilizer, are in pro- 
gressive order the treatments recommended for alfalfa 
by the College of Agriculture when thenatural resources 
of the soil fail to make a good crop. 

Sweet Clover 

This new and worthy rival of alfalfa is rapidly 
gaining an important place in the agriculture of 
Missouri. On fertile bottom land it has proved its 
worth in a rotation with wheat and corn, while on 
upland it is grown successfully, independent of a rota- 
tion, for hay and pasturage. Generally sweet clover 
is more useful on lands which do not produce the best 
crops of alfalfa, for although it requires less abundant 



12 



United States Railroad Administration 




Two more profitable forage crops in Missouri — cowpeas and soy beans — dependable crops 



resources of the soil than alfalfa, it is less popular as a 
forage — good, but not so good as alfalfa, all things 
considered. Hence, sweet clover is becoming widely 
utilized on the less fertile soils, when a long-lived 
legume is wanted, although it is by no means a poor- 
land crop. 

The important measures for growing good crops of 
sweet clover, when the natural resources of the soil 
are not sufficient, are those just recommended for 
alfalfa. 

I Soy Beans and Cowpeas 

These excellent leguminous forages are nowhere 
more at home than in Missouri. Cowpeas, although in 
recent years much displaced by soybeans in central 
and north Missouri, hold their popularity in the south- 
ern part of the State. Especially is southeast Missouri 
they are a staple hay crop of great value, making one 
of the most reliable and profitable crops of that sec- 
tion. Whippoorwill and New Era are the most im- 
portant varieties. 

The development of the soybean crop in Missouri 
has been the most rapid of any crop in recent years. 
No other crop in so short a time has so substantially 
proved its worth. The soybean is easy to grow, easy 
to handle, easy to feed, and its yield of seed and 
highly nutritious hay is nowhere better than in Mis- 
souri. It is easy on the land and no crop is more 
dependable in drouth-prevalent sections. It is es- 
pecially popular for planting in corn for a hogging- 



down mixture. Perhaps ninety per cent of the Missouri 
crop is grown in this way. 

For growing good crops of soybeans, the Missouri 
College of Agriculture recommends the use of adapted 
varieties, inoculation, and clean cultivation. The 
Missouri Experiment Station has found the Morse, 
Medium Yellow and Mikado to be excellent varieties 
for the production of seed. Wilson, Virginia and Arl- 
ington are of outstanding value for hay. Ito San, a 
quick maturing variety, is especially useful for late 
planting. 

Cotton 

Although not strictly within the cotton belt, Mis- 
souri makes a fine production of the great textile. In 
round figures her average annual crop covers 120,000 
acres and turns out 65,000 bales — a production, per- 
haps, not equaled, acre for acre, by any other state. 
In the fertility of the delta soils the Missouri cotton 
farmer finds abundant compensation for the restricted 
growing season. 

In quality Missouri cotton is unexcelled. No state 
grows a longer, stronger or finer staple of the upland 
type. 

Sorghums 

Both grain sorghum and sweet sorghum, the latter 
known to most Missouri farmers as "cane," have an 
important place in the agriculture of the State. Grain 
sorghum is growing in popularity as a worthy sub- 
stitute for corn on the thinner, dryer lands. The Black- 



M 



1 s s o u r 1 



th 



State of Diversified Plenty 




Tobacco, a profitable industry in the hands of experienced growers. Great opportunities in Missouri 



hull Kaffir and its derivatives are perhaps the leading 
types, although Feterita and Milo are also useful. 

Sweet sorghum is a most familiar crop in Missouri. 
The State yields a round annual average of one and a 
half million gallons of sorghum syrup, leading all 
others in the production of this luscious sweetening. 
Orange and its derivatives are perhaps the best varie- 
ties for syrup, although the Amber and Sumac types 
are also popular. All of these varieties are very useful 
for silage, for rough -cured forage, and for pasturage. 

For producing abundant feed under conditions 
which would make scanty yields of most other crops, 
both grain sorghum and sweet sorghum are unsur- 
passed. 

Tobacco 

No better crops of dark Burley tobacco can be 
grown anywhere than on the rich, loess soils of Mis- 
souri. Yet the production of tobacco is a fast dis- 
appearing industry in this State. The demand of the 
crop for specialized laborers not commonly found here, 
and in recent years the greater profit from other crops, 
have combined to make tobacco growing generally 
unpopular. However, in northwest Missouri a few 
counties still grow considerable tobacco and find it 
profitable. Their combined crops cover thirty thou- 
sand to thirty-five thousand acres. The yields average 
900 pounds to the acre. Outside this territory few 
large crops are grown, although many Missouri 
farmers grow small patches for their own use. 



Broom Corn, Rice, Flax 

These minor crops of Missouri do exceedingly well 
where special conditions make them desirable. Thus 
upland rice yields an average of forty-eight bushels 
to the acre in southeast Missouri, in central and south- 
west Missouri broomcom averages over four hundred 
pounds, and in the latter section flax yields an average 
of eight bushels. Even these fine average yields will 
doubtless be much increased by more attention to 
productive methods as the crops become more popular. 

Potatoes 

The potato is a staple truck crop in Missouri, 
and should also be included in every home garden of 
any size. It is grown commercially in parts of the 
State, particularly along the Missouri River in the 
west central part of the State. Production of the 
early varieties for sale during June and July is prov- 
ing especially profitable. 

The Early Ohio and Cobbler varieties have been 
found most satisfactory for this purpose. The commer- 
cial potato crop is worth approximately $12,000,000, 
thus taking first place as a vegetable crop. Yields 
and prices are good for this early crop, while the 
demand is limited only by the supply, for old potatoes 
usually disappear from the market about the time 
the Missouri crop comes in. It has been found that 
early planting (before April 1) results in a better 
stand and a much better yield of potatoes in this 
State. The use of good seed of the right varieties 



14 



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n 1 



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a t e s 



Railroad Administrati 



o n 




Marketing two of Missouri's leading crops — tomatoes and peaches. Missouri grows more kinds of fruits, 

vegetables and cereals than any other state 



and an application of acid phosphate or a complete 
fertilizer in the row at planting time is advisable. 

Hundreds of acres of potatoes are grown under 
a straw mulch, which adds to the fertility of the 
soil and improves the quality of the crop, besides 
saving cultivation. 

The growing of a late or fall crop of potatoes is 
practical in this State, planting about July 1st. Old 
potatoes held in cold storage are used for seed for this 
crop. The fall crop is dug after the tops are killed 
by frost. The potatoes are of very fine quality for 
table purposes, and keep unusually well in storage. 
Also it has been found that seed saved from the 
fall crop is very productive when planted the follow- 
ing spring for the early crop. 

Sweet potatoes may be grown profitably for home 
use and for the market in all parts of Missouri which 
is beginning to assume a reputation as a sweet potato 
growing State. The sandy and gravelly loam soils 
are best adapted for the commercial crop. The demand 
for home grown sweets is practically unlimited. By 
the use of modern heated storage houses or kilns, 
the season for sweet potatoes can be extended from 
the harvest season in the fall until spring. Lengthen- 
ing the season from a few weeks to six months expands 
the demand enormously. Several modern storage 
houses built according to government specifications 
are already in operation. For home use sweet pota- 
toes can easily be kept in good condition through the 
winter by storing in boxes in a warm, dry place. 



Millions of sweet potato plants are grown in Missouri 
for shipment to other states. Our markets prefer a 
sweet moist fleshed variety, such as the "Nancy 
Hall," which has become a universal favorite. This 
variety has been found very productive. On soils not 
especially suitable for sweet potatoes and for the 
early crop, the "Red Bermuda" is a satisfactory 
variety because of its vigorous growth. 

Profitable Markets Economical 
Transportation 

Alexander Jackson 

Missouri, raising as she does practically all the 
necessities of life, and many of the luxuries, is a real 
self-supporting empire and fortunate in having a big 
surplus of the essentials and necessities of life avail- 
able both for domestic and foreign export. 

The balance of trade, which we read about and 
hear so much of these days, is the controlling factor 
in the prosperity and financial standing of a state 
or nation. To be on the right side of the ledger a 
state or nation must be able to dispose of commodities 
either in the way of raw materials and manufactured 
products of greater value than she imports. Missouri 
is on the right side. 

Missouri is one of our states doubly favored so 
far as economical transportation is concerned, having 
both rail and water facilities. 

Her many railroads with over 8,200 miles of track 
serving the State advantageously, to say nothing of 



15 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Missouri, a leader in the production of high-grade beef cattle — market-toppers and prize-winners 



the big volume of local commodities such as apples, 
vegetables, timber, railroad ties, etc. , handled cheaply 
on mnny of her inland waterways, all leading to rail 
facilities, and in many instances carrying traffic direct 
to the Missouri River which traverses her center 
from Kansas City to St. Louis, or to the mighty 
Mississippi which touches all her eastern counties, 
and offering economical transportation for both 
domestic and export business, enabling many of her 
products to reach all parts of the world through the 
port of New Orleans. All the Atlantic and Gulf of 
Mexico ports at her disposal, while the Orient with 
its teeming millions, who are just beginning to appre- 
ciate American food products, is in easy reach through 
our many Pacific ports. 

For domestic markets, on the banks of the Mis- 
sissippi, we find over thirty great industrial and distri- 
buting cities with scores of other important towns 
and landings, all contributing a big tonnage of in- 
and-out traffic, and adding to the wealth and pros- 
perity of the Missouri farmers. 

The wise man looking for a suitable location for 
the raising of the necessities of life always keeps in 
mind that prime consideration — markets. Missouri 
possibly has three of the best markets and distribut- 
ing centers in the United States, viz., Kansas City, 
St. Louis and St. Joseph, with their factories, whole- 
sale houses and packing plants. She thus enjoys the 
benefit of keen competition in her home markets, to 
say nothing of the outside markets with which she 
is in close connection, both by rail and water. 



It is doubtful if there is any state in the Union 
so advantageously located from a marketing stand- 
point as Missouri, and the expected development of 
her more important waterways is going to be a big 
factor especially in the handling of many commodi- 
ties on which cheap transportation rather than quick 
service is desired. 

Progressive men or women looking for a new home 
will bear in mind the important fact that Missouri 
is not a one -crop State; that it produces a great 
diversity of crops, that climatic conditions are on 
the whole not excelled, and that opportunities in 
the United States are not excelled in any other 
country in the world. 

Beef Cattle 

E. A. Trowbridge, Professor of Animal Husbandry, 
University of Missouri 

Missouri ranks fifth among the states in the num- 
ber of beef cattle. The St. Louis market "top" is 
more frequently made by Missouri -fed cattle than by 
those of any other state. Many of the highest-priced 
pure -bred beef cattle sold at public auction have been 
reared, fed and sold in Missouri. The State's accom- 
plishments are evidence that beef cattle production is 
profitable, pleasant and practical, or such production 
would have ceased long ago. 

Missouri bluegrass is unexcelled. Other forages 
and roughnesses grow in abundance. Missouri stands 
high in the production of corn. Cotton seed meal, 



10 



United States Railroad Administration 



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Missouri — The hub of a great galaxy of food-producing states 



wheat bran and other supplementary feeds are avail- 
able without long freight hauls and high charges. 

Much acreage of Missouri land is in good grass and 
supplied with good water. 

The price of land is not as high as in many sections 
and yet, to the beef cattle producer, it offers as great 
opportunities as can be found anywhere. 

Market facilities are unexcelled because the State 
has a large population with large consuming and dis- 
tributing cities to the east, north, west and south. 



Western grown feeder cattle find their greatest 
market at Kansas City, Mo. These cattle are thus 
available to Missouri feeders. 

Capital for the conduct of cattle enterprises may 
be secured under favorable conditions because Mis- 
souri is not subject to crop failures, and diseases which 
endanger beef cattle are either not prevalent or are 
well under control. 

No state excels Missouri in the production of pure- 
bred beef cattle. This business has long been profitable 



17 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Long Gano and Great Orion, 1918 World's Champion Duroc Jersey sow and boar, from Jackson County. 

Missouri is the third State in hog production 



for large numbers of Missouri farmers. Record prices 
on individuals and herds at both public and private 
sales are made frequently in the State. 

With its close proximity to the great breeding 
grounds of the West, Missouri is a particularly good 
market for pure -bred cattle. 

But, without the intelligent population, experienced 
in the cattle business, the State might fall short. 
Experience, education and environment have made 
successful cattlemen in Missouri. The man who takes 
up the production of cattle in the State becomes a 
stockholder in one of the most essential and extensive 
lines of production followed by man. 

Hogs 

L. A. Weaver, Associate Professor of Animal Husbandry, 

University of Missouri 

Missouri has some outstanding advantages as a 
hog-producing State. Some of the more important 
of these might be enumerated as follows: 

Feeds available: A study of the pork industry 
shows that it follows closely the production of corn. 
As a corn-producing State, Missouri ranks fifth in 
total acreage, but is third in production. Furthermore, 
it has been demonstrated that pork may be produced 
most cheaply when good pasture crops are provided 
in addition to corn. In this respect Missouri excels, 
having a long grazing season and producing forages 
especially adaptable for pork production, particularly 
leguminous crops with which to balance the grain 



ration. Protein concentrates, such as tankage and 
oil meal, are also easily obtained since they are by- 
products of manufacturing industries located in differ- 
ent sections of the State. 

Markets: Missouri has three excellent swine 
markets, viz. : St. Louis, Kansas City and St. Joseph. 
There is no part of the State which is not located near 
a good market. 

Climate: Of all the different kinds of live stock, 
hogs are perhaps the least able to withstand extreme 
temperatures. Since Missouri has neither the extreme 
cold of the northern states nor the extreme heat of 
the states located farther south, the climate is excel- 
lent for the production of pork. 

Animals available: A large number of purebred 
herds makes breeding stock readily available if breed- 
ing animals are needed, while certain sections are 
well adapted to producing feeding hogs for those 
who wish to purchase feeders. 

That Missouri has these and other advantages is 
shown by the fact that of all the states in the Union, 
she is excelled by Iowa and Illinois in the number of 
hogs produced. 

Horses, Mules and Jacks 

E. A. Trowbridge, Professor of Animal Husbandry, 
University of Missouri, Columbia 

Missouri climate, soil, crops, markets and men, 
have made this the greatest mule-producing State in 
the Union. The reputation of the "Missouri mule" 



is 



United States Railroad Administration 




A bunch of Missouri work horses and The World's Champion Five-Gated Saddle Stallion, "My Major Dare." 

Missouri's horses are worth over $100,000,000 



has become international. Not only have Missouri- 
bred mares mothered the world's best mules, but Mis- 
souri horses have won many of the highly coveted 
prizes in world competitions. The State has supplied 
its own demands for work stock and has sent more 
than its quota to the world markets. The State ranks 
sixth among the states in number of horses. 

The horse and mule business has made much 
money for Missouri farmers. With the State's well- 
established reputation, it can be expected to do more 
easily in the future what it has done in the past. 

Missouri farmers are able to reap a double income 
on their horses and mules because these animals per- 
form the labor necessary to crop production and large 
numbers of mule and horse colts are produced each 
year. Farm work is such that much of it can be done 
by brood mares and young stock, leaving a yearly 
revenue of large proportions from the sale of mature 
horses and mules. 

Missouri bluegrass grown on the State's limestone 
soil, is unexcelled for the development of bone, muscle 
and quality in horses and mules. No state excels 
Missouri in the quantity and quality of its bluegrass 
pastures. Clover, alfalfa and other pasture and rough- 
ness crops are produced in abundance. Corn, oats, 
barley and other grains are produced on the farms 
where they can be utilized in the production of horses 
and mules. 

Short, mild winters and long growing seasons, with 
neither the extreme of heat nor the lack of it, necessi- 



tate a minimum of shelter and labor in the production 
of horses and mules. 

The large part of the year spent in the open by 
colts make horses and mules, so grown, particularly 
free from disease. Good water can be had on practi- 
cally every farm. 

East St. Louis, just at the eastern edge of Missouri, 
is one of the world's greatest horse and mule markets. 
Buyers from this market are on hand throughout the 
State to take the horses and mules that are ready for 
market. Kansas City and St. Joseph, on the west, 
furnish excellent markets for surplus stock. Buyers 
from the South and East travel over Missouri each 
year in search of horses and mules to ship to these 
respective sections. Aside from these demands, Mis- 
souri cities use large numbers of mules and horses to 
carry on their extensive industrial enterprises. 

The world realizes that Missouri has horses and mules 
of the right kind to sell and this big advantage of be- 
coming a part of an enterprise already in a thrifty, 
well-established condition, offers itself to the operators 
of Missouri farms. 

Sheep 
D. A. Spencer, Missouri Sheep Specialist 

In the early history of Missouri, mutton and wool 
production was one of the important industries of 
the State and through a long period of years, Mis- 
sourians have injoyed profits from farm sheep raising. 
With the advance in prices of mutton and wool dur- 
ing the last four years the consuming public is dis- 



ly 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plent 




A profitable industry in Missouri. Every Missouri farm should have at least twenty good sheep 



criminating more than ever, in favor of quality and 
sheepmen are finding Missouri soil and climate 
eminently adapted to the production of high quality 
mutton and w^ool. 

The federal and state crop-reporting service has 
announced that during 1918, Missouri's sheep popu- 
lation increased 73,000, or nearly five per cent, mak- 
ing a total of 1,539,000 sheep in Missouri on January 
1, 1919. This increase in actual numbers, while signi- 
ficant, seems rather ordinary when the secretaries 
of the American sheep registry associations tell us 
that the number of Missouri breeders who are regis- 
tering pure-bred sheep has increased 38.3 per cent 
from April, 1918, to April, 1919. Shepherds of Missouri 
hills have learned that it pays to use pure-bred sires 
and the breeders of pure-breds have a splendid market 
for their sheep. 

Since the winters are rather mild and pasture 
exceptionally early and abundant, early lamb pro- 
duction is especially profitable. Lambs in this State 
are piHng up economical gains during late winter and 
early spring, while lambs in the northern states must 
live from mow and bin. 

In many corn -producing counties the economical 
practice of feeding lambs in the cornfield is rapidly 
becoming popular as a big money-maker. The unique 
location of Missouri, having on one side the big feeder 
sheep markets of Kansas City and St. Joseph and 
on the other side the fat sheep markets of St. Louis 
and Chicago makes it possible for many western 
sheep to be fattened in Missouri and to be moved 



on toward the east where mutton and wool are in 
greatest demand and where prices are most favorable 
to the producer. 

Sheep and Wool 

W. D. McKee, Farmer and Sheep Breeder, 
R. F. D. 3, Polo, Missouri 

More sheep in Missouri means more woolen fabrics 
sold across the counter, and more lamb and mutton 
chops in the market basket. 

The number of sheep in Missouri, compared with 
the number that should be found on the two hundred 
and seventy-seven thousand farms, is distressingly 
small — 1,539,000. Permanent and successful agri- 
culture cannot be maintained without live stock — 
and sheep are essential to the program of farm animals. 

Agriculture based upon exclusive grain farming 
cannot endure or abide, and must be of a necessity 
short lived — and leads to a system of soil robbing, 
when the crops are sold off the farm through the 
elevator, and nothing returned, and results in an 
impoverished soil and consequently low yields. 

Of all the farm animals, there are none that keep 
up the fertility of the land, convert pasture grasses 
and field crops into a more wholesome and greatly 
needed product, wool and mutton, and at the same 
time return to the owner a higher per cent on his 
investment than sheep. 

The sheep, above all other farm animals (except- 
ing the goat), is a willing and cheerful consumer of 
weeds. In combating these plant-food consumers and 



United States Railroad Administration 




Useful and profitable pioneers in the first army against underbrush, weeds, and waste olaces. 
Every Hill and Cut-Over Farm should have a flock 



eyesores on the farm, one of the most effective weapons 
of warfare at the farmer's command is a flock of 
sheep. 

While the entire State of Missouri is peculiarly 
adapted to sheep husbandry, there is no part that 
holds out as great a promise and as bright an outlook 
for the economic production of wool and mutton as 
the Ozarks. Abundance of water, plenty of shade, 
splendid rolling pastures, make the Ozarks the natural 
home of the sheep, and millions ought to be grazing 
on these hills instead of the scanty number now to 
be seen. 

Let the farmers of Missouri awaken to the fact that 
in casting about for some farm animal that will enable 
them to make the farms rich, clean, and tidy, the 
bank account to swell and grow fat, and to confer a 
perpetual and enduring blessing on all mankind — let 
me exhort them, as a flockmaster of thirty years, 
experience — pin full faith to the animal with the 
golden fleece and hoof — the sheep. 

Angora Goats 

By C. E. DeGroff, Reeds Spring, Missouri, Secretary 
American Angora Goat Breeders' Association 

The raising of Angora goats in the Ozarks, particu- 
larly in the mountainous parts of Missouri, is a grow- 
ing industry. Flocks of from one hundred up to 
three thousand head have been brought in from the 
southwestern and other states during the past three 
years. 



While some of the registered flocks are being bred 
for their fleeces, which are now selling at seventy- 
five cents per pound, the majority of the flocks of 
grades are being used for clearing the underbrush 
from the land that has had the timber removed. 

Goats are different from sheep in that they feed 
with their heads up and their natural feed is sprouts, 
vines, thorns, etc. Their constant nipping of the 
buds in winter and the new growth in summer soon 
kills the brush as high as they can reach standing 
on their hind feet. Bluegrass and blue stem grass 
(the natural grass of the Ozarks) soon come in for 
other stock to feed on. 

Except for dry sheds for them to go under from 
storins, very little care is given Angora goats except 
at the kidding season. An increase of one hundred 
per cent is the general rule, while many with grade 
flocks report 150 per cent. 

When they have plenty of sprouts and wild grass 
to feed on in the winter. Angoras require little feed 
except during storms. They relish any kind of hay, 
cornstalks or rough forage, providing it is well cured 
and not musty. The general winter feed for Angoras 
in the Ozarks is well-cured sorghum hay. 

Dairying 

A. C. Ragsdale, Professor of Dairy Husbandry, 
University of Missouri 

Nature has given Missouri her farm lands, shaped 
her hills and guided her streams just as the dairy 



21 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Beyond question, no other part of the world offers better possibilities for dairy farming than Missouri 



COW wanted them, pure water, perfect drainage and 
plentiful pasturage combined with pleasant summers 
and short winters, make Missouri ideal for dairying. 
Conditions are especially desirable because of the 
State's location in the center of our great country, 
with a great milk-consuming population at her doors 
and with the best facilities for marketing her products. 

Our farmers have learned that there is money in 
dairying for the man who thinks; that good barns 
and equipment, and intelligent management are a 
big asset, but that without good cows and careful 
feeding all efforts are vain. Through private records, 
cow testing associations and official testing, the poor 
producers are being eliminated. By learning to grow 
their own feed so far as possible our farmers are cut- 
ting the amount to be purchased to a minimum. 
Good economical rations in Missouri are based upon 
corn silage and some legume hay, such as clover, 
alfalfa, soybean or cowpea. 

Through organizing a bull club one county secured 
the service of nine pure-bred bulls with dams for the 
first three generations averaging more than six-hun- 
dred pounds of butter per year. The cost to each 
farmer for service of these bulls averages $5.50 per 
year and he is breeding to a $260 bull. Previously 
the average cost to each farmer was $19.57 a year 
and he was breeding to a $75 bull. With this start 
and the help of the cow testing associations the 
farmers of this county confidently expect to drive 
every scrub bull out of the county within a very 



few years. There are other communities of this kind 
in Missouri and results show that to live in them 
"pays." 

Dairying is growing steadily in Missouri. With 
919,000 dairy cows producing products worth approxi- 
mately one hundred million dollars annually, she has 
a good start. The future agriculture in Missouri will 
unquestionably be composed very largely of intelli- 
gent dairy farming and those who prepare early with 
one of the recognized dairy breeds will be the ones 
who will do the most good and reap the first harvest. 

Dairying 

E. G. Bennett, Dairy Commissioner of the 
Missouri State Board of Agriculture 

Missouri has long since been recognized as a State 
that has not had her resources fully exploited. Good 
pastures, numerous springs and streams, ample shade, 
mild climate, and soil that grows all kinds of forage 
crops gave Missouri a just claim to having natural 
resources equal to any state in the Union for stock 
raising and dairying. 

That portion of the State known as the Ozark 
comprises about twelve million acres, and while much 
of this section produces well in wheat and corn, it is 
especially adapted to the stock industry. In the 
rougher sections the wild timber grass provides good 
grazing throughout the year and when the timber is 
thinned sufficiently to allow ample air and sunshine, 
bluegrass volunteers, and orchard grass, red top and 
other grasses do well. Thus the rougher land is 



United States Railroad Administration 




Missouri, the ideal country for dairy farming — climate, soils, feeding and marketing conditions unexcelled 



profitably utilized, while the valleys and more level 
land provides grain for concentrates and forage for 
winter feeding. 

The long-horned scrub cattle are gone forever — 
and in their place come the pure-bred Herefords, 
Shorthorns, Angus and Galloways. 

The mongrel dairy cow, a burden to her owner, 
producing but little more than is required to raise her 
calf, will, within a short time, be known only in 
history. The pure -bred Holsteins, Ayrshires, Jerseys 
and Guernseys are here — and their numbers are in- 
creasing rapidly. 

Pure-bred stock associations have been organized 
in most counties of the State, and the interest shown 
in these organizations by their members emphasizes 
their sincerity. 

No branch of agricultural development has shown 
more progress than dairying. In addition to most 
favorable natural conditions for the stock, St. Louis, 
Kansas City and St. Joseph and close proximity and 
good shipping facilities to eastern and southern centers, 
provide good markets for dairy products. Many 
commercial clubs and bankers throughout the State 
have, through their desires to increase revenue in their 
respective communities, turned their attention to the 
possibilities of the dairy cow. The "Missouri Calf 
Club Plan," endorsed by the Missouri State Board 
of Agriculture, has fully proven its worth in promoting 
this industry. Through the State Dairy Department 
of this Board, co-operating with commercial clubs and 



bankers, more than 4,000 high-grade and pure-bred 
dairy heifers from the best dairy sections of America 
(and some from European countries) have been dis- 
tributed to sixty-five calf clubs in various sections 
of the State. 

With such stock for foundation blood, and millions 
of Ozark country land available at low prices, does 
not Missouri offer real opportunities for the dairy 
farmer? 

A Big Foreign Demand at Present for High- 
Grade Beef and Dairy Cattle 

Grade Holsteins in large numbers have already 
been purchased for shipment to France, while orders 
from the French High Commission will cause a drain 
on the supply of grade Holsteins in most of the 
important dairy sections of this country, six hundred 
head have already been shipped by Ray C. Judd of 
St. Charles, 111. With J. M. Fletcher and E. J. Fellows, 
he is taking care of an order for 1,000 head per month 
according to authentic reports. These men are comb- 
ing the states of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota and Indiana for Holstein grades. At 
St. Louis, Mo., the Milton-Marshall Live Stock Com- 
mission Company have an order for 500 head per month 
and their selections are being made from Missouri, 
Kansas, Nebraska and western Illinois. In New York 
State a definite order for 10,000 head has been received 
by George N. Smith of Watertown, in company with 
Messrs. Holland of Syracuse, Shotwell of Skaneateles 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




The stock and dairy farmer's reserve bank. Missouri farmers understand silos to mean, 

"When a fellow needs a friend" 



and Libby of New York. Mr. Smith reports to the 
Holstein World that shipment is being delayed by the 
shipyard strikes at Newport News, which is the 
point of debarkation, so that he is now carrying indefi- 
nitely about six hundred head of Holstein grades on 
his farm at Watertown, N. Y., until the shipping situ- 
ation clears up. 

As high as a thousand head a week have been 
shipped from New York alone. Large orders are also 
reported to have been placed in New England. 

From all indications there will be a big demand 
for a long time on the United States from practically 
all parts of the world for good dairy and beef cattle 
breeding stock. 

This will naturally tend to higher prices, conse- 
quently our Missouri farmers contemplating eliminat- 
ing their scrub stock and building up their beef and 
dairy herds should not delay in securing their high- 
grade or registered breeding stock. Missouri farmers 
figuring on buying improved stock of any kind will be 
well advised in getting in touch with their Agricultural 
College, Columbia, Mo., or the State Board of 
Agriculture, Jefferson City, Mo. In the purchasing of 
live stock of any kind, especially from outside states, 
it is always advisable to have the benefit of expert 
advice and examination. 

A great many Missouri and other farmers have had 
bitter and expensive experiences through dealing with 
unprincipled dealers. 

Now is the time to buy! 



Silos and Silage 

A. C. Ragsdale, Professor of Dairy Husbandry, 
University of Missouri 

That the silo is as necessary a part of the equip- 
ment of a stock farm as is a barn, is shown in a meas- 
ure by the rapidity with which it has come into 
use, and the almost universal satisfaction it gives 
the owner. 

The greatest of the many advantages of the silo 
is the possibility it affords of utilizing all of the corn 
crop. Some years ago when land was cheap and 
plenty of coarse food was at hand, it was not a serious 
loss if a portion of the corn crop was wasted. At 
the present time, with both farm lands and feed high 
in price, conditions are quite different. When the 
ears of corn are husked in the ordinary way and the 
fodder left in the field, from sixty to seventy per 
cent of the food value of the corn crop is taken with 
the ears, while thirty to forty per cent remains with 
the fodder. 

Putting an acre of corn, yielding fifty bushels in 
the silo makes available 900 pounds of digestible 
food, above what would be had in the corn if husked. 
This is fully equal to saving a ton of timothy hay for 
each acre of corn. 

But saving feed is only one advantage of the silo. 
Every farmer knows how quickly the condition of 
all of his animals changes when changed from the dry 
feed of the winter to pasture in the spring. The 
young begin to grow better, the cows to give more 



24 



United States Railroad Administration 




Cantaloupes — a profitable crop in Missouri, netting from $100 to $150 a carload 



milk, and all do the best of any time during the year. 
Feeding silage in connection with other feed stuffs 
makes it possible to continue practically these same 
summer pasture conditions throughout the year. 

Apple and Other Tree Fruits 

V. R. Gardner, Department of Horticulture, University of 
Missouri 

While Missouri does not lead all other states in the 
production of any single fruit crop it has long been 
an important factor in the commercial apple and peach 
industries. Here, as elsewhere, the indiscriminate 
planting of orchards is not to be recommended. How- 
ever, there are several general sections pre-eminently 
adapted to fruit growing. Among these should be 
mentioned the belt of hill land of varying width bor- 
dering the Mississippi River and the Missouri River 
as it crosses the State and forms a part of its western 
boundary. The so-called "loess" soil of this belt is one 
of the best fruit soils in the world. It is deep, moder- 
ately rich, free from hardpan, affords almost perfect 
drainage and is generally characterized by a topog- 
raphy ideal from the viewpoint of air drainage and 
freedom from frost. Likewise in the Ozarks there are 
many favored places where soil, slope and elevation, 
combine to make excellent locations for large fruit 
enterprises. As a matter of fact there is not a county 
in the State but that possesses some locations where 
at least a small commercial fruit industry can be 
developed to advantage. The local market for high- 
grade fruit is very good and exceptional opportunities 



are offered to the grower who will cater to and develop 
them. The portions of the State best adapted to large 
commercial fruit enterprises for the most part are so 
located with reference to large markets and transporta- 
tion facilities that present production can be greatly 
increased with profit to the grower and with no 
danger of oversupplying the demand. 

The apple is our most important fruit and should 
constitute the major part of future plantings. Peaches 
should be set only in favored areas where local topog- 
raphy insures comparative freedom from late spring 
frosts. Such areas are much more apt to be found in 
the southern rather than the northern half of the 
State. Both cherries and plums are raised successfully 
throughout the State and are very profitable crops. 
Growers could well afford to increase their acreage of 
these crops. 

Small Fruits 

The small fruits ripen at a time of the year when 
other fruits are practically off the market, or at least 
are difficult and expensive to obtain. The result is 
that there is always a keen demand for them — a de- 
mand that during recent years has been greater than 
the supply. The local markets in Missouri are such 
as will absorb large quantities with profit to the grower 
and the State is so situated with reference to large 
markets and transportation facilities that much 
greater productions may be encouraged. 

Of all the small fruits the strawberry is the most 
important and it is adapted to the widest range of 



Missouri — the Stat 



f D 



1 V e r s 1 



1 e 



d Plenty 




Watermelons, another profitable crop in Missouri — soil, climatic and marketing conditions just right 



conditions in this State. As a matter of fact it can be 
grown profitably in practically every county in Mis- 
souri. Raspberries, blackberries and dewberries, thrive 
in moist, well-watered, but at the same time well- 
drained soils and are comparatively easy to grow. 
There is never enough raised to begin to meet the 
demand. In Missouri raspberry growing should be 
limited to the black-cap and purple-cane varieties. 
Currants and gooseberries succeed in the northern half 
of the State, but do not thrive so well farther south. 

Vegetable Gardening 

Growing vegetables for market as well as home 
consumption is an important business in the State 
of Missouri. Tens of thousands of home gardens 
in the towns and on the farms are contributing to 
lower the cost of living and to supply the people with 
a variety of the most healthful and cheapest of foods. 
The commercial vegetable crop is worth approximately 
twenty-five million dollars annually. Yet in many cases 
the production of vegetables is insufficient to meet 
the local demands. With many large consuming 
centers in this and neighboring states, the opportuni- 
ties for entering the business of commercial vegetable 
growing are splendid. The climate of the State favors 
the successful production of practically every vegetable 
that is grown in either northern or southern regions. 
The long growing season enables the truck grower 
to produce two to four crops on the same land each 
season. In fact, growing conditions and the ready 
demand for high-class vegetables invites extensive 



production of vegetable crops by up-to-date methods. 
No other line of agricultural work offers such oppor- 
tunity for intensive work on a few acres with a 
comparatively small investment and quick returns. 
The consumption of vegetables should increase, and 
is increasing, among all classes of people, whether 
vegetables are grown at home or bought on the 
market. Finally, Missouri has the land which is 
suitable for growing nearly every kind of vegetable to 
perfection, on a large scale. 

Tomatoes 

J. T. Rosa, Jr., Department of Horticulture, University of 
Missouri 

Missouri ranks high as a tomato-growing State. 
About 10,000 acres are grown especially for canning 
and many more for home use and local markets. 
As a market crop, early tomatoes are highly profit- 
able, success resulting largely from early setting of 
large, stocky hotbed grown plants. 

As a cannery crop, Missouri tomatoes take first 
place in point of quality, color, flavor and solidity 
of the packed product. The gravelly and rocky soils 
of the Ozark regions produce splendid crops of toma- 
toes that areof especially fine quality for canning. The 
sandy and loess soils along the Missouri River also 
are desirable for extensive plantings. There are a 
large number of modem and well-equipped canning 
factories in the State, which are capable of handling 
many more tomatoes than are now being grown. 



2G 



United States Railroad A d m inist 



ration 




i-^' 






JS*: ^ ;s^ss"nw-5-*; 


»■-■■■ 


[ 



Missouri leads all states in poultry and egg production— the poultry-raiser's paradise. 
Poultry and egg value, in 1918, was over $76,000,000 



As the cost of production is much lower here than 
in eastern states, Missouri tomato growers and can- 
ners have a considerable advantage on the market. 

For full information on growing tomatoes, write 
for Missouri Experiment Station Circular 87. 
Onions 

Onions thrive in light rich loamy soils and on the 
rich black bottom lands. Growing onions has proved 
to be profitable in Missouri. Practically everywhere 
this crop can be grown from sets, and often proves 
extremely profitable, for yields are good and prices 
are high for this early maturing crop grown from sets. 
The yield from a single acre of good early onions 
may be worth more than many acres of field crops. 
The Red Globe varieties are most popular. Sets 
may be grown at home or purchased cheaply in 
nearby sections which make a specialty of producing 
them. Early planting (late February or March) has 
proved by far the most profitable for both yields and 
prices. Onion land should be heavily manured and 
in the best of cultural condition. It is well to prepare 
land for onions by manuring heavily one or two years 
beforehand and cropping with a hand or clean culti- 
vated crop so as to build up the soil and rid it as 
far as possible of grass and weed seed. 

Watermelons 

Missouri ranks third as a watermelon producing 
state. Large areas of the light sandy soil which is 



ideal for melon production exist in the southeast 
section of the State, as well as elsewhere. The local 
demand for melons is especially good. Recently, 
two county-wide shipping associations have been 
organized to handle the marketing of the melon crop. 
Half a carload per acre is considered a fair crop. 
Also the acreage of muskmelons is increasing, as 
more and more growers find that they can produce 
this crop successfully and profitably, not only on 
the sandy soils, but on the heavier soils when these 
are properly manured and fertilized. As the market 
demand is for large watermelons, the principal vari- 
ety grown is the "Tom Watson." The use of 
both stable manure in the hill and a small quantity 
of commercial fertilizer worked in around the hill, 
contribute much for the production of a large number 
of fine melons. 

Missouri as a Poultry State 

H. L. Kempster, Department of Poultry Husbandry, 
Columbia, Mo. 

Missouri is recognized as one of the leading poultry 
and egg-producing states. Ten years ago Missouri 
clinched her right to the title "Poultry Queen of the 
Union," by producing, according to the census, more 
eggs than any other state. More eggs are being pro- 
duced than ever before. Even under the strenuous 
conditions due to the war, Missouri farmers continued 
to increase the size of their poultry flocks. 



27 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Missouri fa 



importance of high-grade dairy cattle. Dairying conditions in Missouri are ideal 



The present poultry conditions have been brought 
about because those who undertook the raising of 
poultry found it profitable. Poultry thrives best in 
well-drained sections, where there is a long-growing 
season, an abundance of clean water, insects which 
furnish necessary food nutrients, and a good supply 
of gravel and grit. It is in the grain-producing sections 
that poultry offers the greatest opportunities. Mis- 
souri is far enough south to escape the long, bleak 
winters of the North, yet far enough north to miss 
the protracted hot summers of the south. Hot winds 
are seldom experienced. Under these conditions poul- 
try are comparatively easy to raise. They produce liber- 
ally and the person who starts raising poultry acquires 
the habit of marketing poultry products regularly. 
Last year twenty-six farms, which were keeping 
records for the University of Missouri, showed an in- 
come from poultry and eggs above feed cost of $250 
per farm. One retired farmer, with 430 hens, realized 
a labor income of over $100 a month. From Novem- 
ber 1, 1918, to May 31, 1919, over one hundred farms, 
which are keeping records, show an income above feed 
cost of $156.84, the average number of hens per farm 
being 140. Poultry is an important adjunct to general 
farming. It is good farming practice to market grains 
and roughage as a live-stock product which is in 
edible form and poultry is a "crop which never fails." 

Circular No. 70, dated August, 1919, "How to 
Cull Farm Hens," is now ready for distribution. 
Every poultry raiser should send for free copy and 
read it carefully. 



Possibilities of the Ozarks 

T. W. Noland, Director, Missouri State Poultry Exp. Station, 
Mountain Grove, Mo. 

Missouri is a wonderful State, having within its 
borders many diversified interests, among which poul- 
try ranks near the top of the list. The Missouri 
State Board of Agriculture reports a production in 
1918 of $34,000,000 worth of eggs, and $42,000,000 
of poultry. 

Missouri holds first rank as an egg producing 
State, the greater percentage of which comes from 
the general farm as a sideline product. There is a 
splendid opportunity for the establishment of com- 
mercial poultry plants, and room for decided improve- 
ment of poultry conditions in rural Missouri. 

There is not a section of the State wherein the 
types of agriculture do not make poultry profitable 
and self-supporting. This is particularly true of the 
greater part of southern Missouri known as the Ozark 
country. In the above section of the State, land has 
not reached the price that is prohibitive to poultry 
culture. Reasonable prices of land, unlimited range, 
numerous springs and railroad facilities for good 
markets are factors which are doing much to make 
the Ozarks a profitable poultry center. 

There is no occasion for the poultryman of Missouri 
to import poultry feeds as it produces all the needed 
small grains. Milk is produced on most farms to 
the extent that the purchase of animal protein is 
seldom necessary. Green food in the form of 



28 



United States Railroad A d m i n i s t r a t i o 



n 




A typical Missouri country road — $18,000,000 available for good road construction during 1919 1920 



grasses, clover, rye and alfalfa is available or easily 
supplied throughout the entire year. 

The Ozarks offer a splendid opportunity for the 
fellow who understands poultry culture in a logical 
way. The summers are warm but shade is abundant, 
and the winters are not severe. With good care dur- 
ing the short winter season poultry will pay a hand- 
some dividend. Bear in mind that, as a rule, late 
hatched chicks are not profitable anywhere. 

The Ozark section is not only adapted to poultry 
raising; but dairying and fruit growing are profitable 
if properly handled. In short the farmer of the 
Ozarks should combine the three classes of industry. 



Bees and Honey 



K. 



C. Sullivan, Department of Entomology, University 
of Missouri 



Missouri being a leading horticultural State, is 
therefore a natural home of the honey bee. Only one 
other state, owing to its size, can claim a larger num- 
ber of colonies. 

The Italians so far have proved to be the favorite 
in Missouri with their high-grade hybrids a close 
second. These bees are adapted to Missouri condi- 
tions because they are strong on the wing, hardy and 
industrious, and are easy to handle. 

Bees should be on every Missouri farm as all sec- 
tions of the State are well adapted to agriculture; the 
flora being such that the bee is kept busy from the 
time maple and apple blossoms open in the early 



spring until the Spanish needle and smart weed are 
nipped in the late fall. Ordinarily more nectar is ob- 
tained from bee and white clovers than from any other 
source. These wonderful legumes claim nativity in all 
parts of the State. They are in bloom during a large 
part of the summer and the clear white honey, which 
is produced from the nectar of these plants cannot be 
surpassed in flavor or quality. 

There is still abundant room and opportunity for 
live and progressive beekeepers, as it is very conser- 
vatively estimated that only about one -twentieth of 
the total nectar produced by Missouri plants is con- 
verted into honey. 

Good Roads 

C. O. Raine, Member Missouri State Highway Commission 
and Master Missouri State Grange. 

The McCullough-Morgan amendments to the 
Hawes Road Law authorizes the State Highway 
Department to survey and construct six thousand 
miles of road within the next three years. This 
mileage is to be divided among the counties on the 
basis of two roads to each county — one north and 
south, and one east and west, as near as practical, 
of a total length of not more than fifty miles. 

On these roads, $1,200 per mile of state and federal 
aid will be used without cost to the counties. How- 
ever, the $1,200 per mile will not be spent on any 
state road unless it is ample to build a road substantial 
in character, that will meet the traffic requirements 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Missouri-bred beef cattle have a world-wide reputation. A big outside continuous demand for Missouri breeding stock 



and the population served. The cost of building 
such a road above $1,200 a mile is borne equally by 
the government and the county in which it is located. 
No state road will be built with state and federal 
aid, unless the project is approved by the State 
Highway Department and the Federal Bureau of 
Public Roads. There is available for use on state 
roads in Missouri, within the next three years, over 
$9,000,000 of federal money. The Fiftieth General 
Assembly appropriated about $4,000,000 of state 
money to meet the federal money within the next 
two years (1919 and 1920), which, with money coming 
in from other sources, will make a total sum in the 
aggregate of about $18,000,000 for road construction 
in this State. 

Industries 

By William H. Lewis, State Labor Commissioner of Missouri 

In 1917 the value of the annual output of manu- 
factured products in the State of Missouri passed 
the billion dollar mark. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics show that these prod- 
ucts for 1918 will amount to $1,250,000,000. 

The most distinguishing feature about Missouri, 
as an industrial State, is the wide and increasing range 
of products which are being manufactured. 

Missouri takes especially high rank in the shoe 
industry and packing house products. Missouri is 
first in lead and zinc mining. 

Missouri stands first in walnut logs and walnut 
lumber. 



In the manufacture of plug tobacco Missouri holds 
first place. The largest saddle-tree factory in the 
world is located in Missouri, as is also the largest 
stirrup factory. 

St. Louis is the largest wholesale fur market in 
the world. The corn cob output for the current year 
of 1919 will reach a million dollars. 
Natural Resources 

H. A. Buehler, State Geologist, Rolla, Mo. 

Missouri stands ninth among the states in the value 
of its mineral output; has a greater variety of com- 
mercial minerals than any state in the Mississippi 
Valley; stands first in the production of lead, zinc; 
second in barytes; is one of the two chief centers in 
the manufacture of fire brick; is an important manu- 
facturer of lime and Portland cement; has mines pro- 
ducing the semi-rare metals cobalt, nickel and tung- 
sten ; is an important producer or pyrites, used in the 
manufacture of sulphuric acid; ships marble through- 
out the United States for interior decorative purposes, 
and has large deposits of coal and iron as yet unde- 
veloped. 

These various mineral resources occur in different 
geological formations and under very different geo- 
logical conditions. A knowledge of these features is of 
the greatest help in prospecting and development 
work. 

The Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines, or 
Geological Survey, is maintained by the State for the 
purpose of assisting in the development of these re- 



30 



United States Railroad Administration 








Our Missouri farmers should remember that the best breeding stock is always a good investment — a good start half the game 



sources. The detailed reports of the department 
describe the nature and extent of the various com- 
mercial resources and are distributed to investors and 
citizens without cost other than transportation. 
Samples of Missouri ores and rocks sent the bureau 
are examined and their probable value determined. 
The department is at your service. 
Total annual mineral production: 

*1898 $13,323,245 

1913 47,760,584 

1914 43,585,667 

1915 59,821,032 

1916 78,558,422 

*For comparison and showing growth of mining and mineral 
industry. 

The above figures include zinc, lead and iron 
ores, coal, clay, cement, building stone, sand and 
gravel, lime, clay, barytes, copper, tripoli, silver; mis- 
cellaneous, including tungsten, cobalt, nickel, etc. 

Water Power 
The Ozark country abounds in water power, only 
the smallest fraction of which is being utilized. Good 
dam sites occur at numerous points along all of the 
larger streams such as the Osage, Gasconade, Mera- 
mec. Current and White rivers, and even along the 
smaller streams important sites occur. The C3zark 
streams are rapid and very commonly rock-walled. 
They are to a large extent spring fed, insuring a fairly 
good stage of water throughout the year. The great 
dam and plant of the Ozark Power and Water Com- 
pany, on White River, near Forsythe, very well 



illustrates the possibility of developing the unused 
water power of the Ozark streams. 

Opportunities for Farming in Missouri 

O. R. Johnson, Department of Farm Management 

There are thousands of acres of land in Missouri 
that are not being farmed now because the demand 
for farm land is not great enough to justify the 
expense of bringing this land under cultivation. 
These untried farm lands are primarily for the man 
with considerable capital who can afford to wait for 
his returns. They usually require development — 
drainage and clearing that takes time and money. 
An inexhaustible wealth of fertility, that can be 
used once the land is drained or cleared, makes these 
areas very attractive to men with capital. 

For the man with small capital, who expects to 
farm for what he can earn by his skill as a farmer, 
the best chance seems to be in established communi- 
ties. Good farms can be leased in practically all 
parts of the State. Almost any type of farming can 
be found, from highly specialized, like the growing 
of fruit or vegetables, or dairying, to the most general 
types of farming. The man with limited capital 
should seek a farm in a community where he is 
familiar with the type of farming being followed. His 
first concern should be to fully equip himself for farm- 
ing. A man only half equipped is working under too 
great a handicap. After allowing for enough machin- 
ery, live stock, and feed to bring him through the 
first season, he could then consider investment of 



31 



Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 




Where the Gasconade joins the Missouri. Beauty spots Hke this all over the State. Good fishing in all our rivers 



any additional capital in land. If he has not had 
special training, he should follow diversified farming 
on a family sized farm. This means, generally, a t wo- 
man farm or anywhere from 160 to around 300 acres. 
One-man farms are harder to make money on, as 
farming does not adapt itself well to a one-man pro- 
position. On this family sized farm he should provide 
for several sources of income to lessen the risk. 

Under prices prevailing up to 1917, three to four 
thousand dollars would well equip any farmer for 
operating a diversified family sized farm. Specialized 
farming usually requires considerable more capital. 
For men who have little more than this minimum of 
capital, credit is usually easy to obtain. Any man 
contemplating starting farming must first of all keep 
his credit good in the community. Credit is one of 
his most useful articles of equipment for successful 
farming. In most communities men can purchase 
some land and rent additional land if necessary to 
make their business large enough for economical 
operation. A man will usually find himself a little 
later able to buy additional land to increase the size 
of his farm. Ownership of land in a community 
stabilizes social and economic conditions for 
that community. 

The opportunity was never better for the man 
who knows something about farming. The pros- 
pective farmer should, however, keep these points in 
mind — equip himself before putting capital in land, 
rent or buy good land (it is always economical to 
strive through good husbandry for high yields and 



high quality of live stock.) maintain several sources 
of income, keep the land at work. If he observes 
these things the farmer of any experience should 
realize good wages for his efforts. 

Undeveloped Lands 

M. F. Miller, Department of Soils 

Missouri has considerable lands still undeveloped- 
The best of this is the poorly drained lands in the 
bottoms along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers 
with small areas in the bottoms of the larger streams 
of northern Missouri. 

The southeast Missouri lowlands, comprising six 
solid counties of alluvial soils, contain the largest 
single area of undrained land although the larger 
part of these lowlands is now under the plow. Much 
of this soil is extremely fertile and some of the finest 
agricultural opportunities of the State may be found 
in this section. The completion of the drainage 
canals of the Little River Drainage district, a pro- 
ject costing several millions of dollars, will drain prac- 
tically the entire remaining land in that region. 
This project has just been completed and the lands 
are rapidly being cleared, small farm ditches are 
being installed and the land brought into cultivation. 
This is the most rapidly developing part of Missouri. 

A large area of undeveloped land is found in the 
Ozark region. This region comprises approximately 
one-fourth of the State and much of it is still undevel- 
oped. This land has less native fertility than that of 
the lowlands and considerable of it is too rough to 



United States Railroad Administration 




Com — first crop on cut-over land. Angora goats cvidLntly lielpt-tl in ck.uing ami priparing this tract a good job 



allow of cultivation. Much of it is now covered with 
cut-over timber although considerable merchantable 
timber remains. The region is one of the great 
sources of railroad ties for the United States. With 
the exception of scattered tracts still owned by the 
State and used largely for forestry purposes, the land 
is in private hands. It is suited to a much wider 
development in dairying, cattle and hog growing, sheep 
growing and fruit growing than now prevails. 

The most fertile land in the Ozark region is that 
of the valleys and creek bottoms, most of which is 
now under cultivation. The undeveloped land is 
the hill land. The region is one very different from 
that of the prairies in the northern part of the State 
and is suited to special types of farming. The new- 
comer in that region should select the types of farming 
suited to the land he buys. 

Southeast Missouri 

A. I. Foard, Agricultural Extension Service 

Southeast Missouri, more commonly known as 
the Modern Promised Land, comprises eight counties 
' of the lowland district which has been reclaimed by 
I a drainage system. The counties in this territory 
'are Butler, Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, Mississippi, 
New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott and Stoddard. Three 
I thousand miles of drainage ditches have been con- 
structed reclaiming 3,000,000 acres of fertile Mis- 
sissippi River bottom land, which is the greatest recla- 
mation project in the United States accomplished 
without government aid. 



The leading crops in this section are wheat, corn, 
cotton, alfalfa, clover and cow peas. Five cuttings 
of alfalfa are common, and in many instances six 
and seven cuttings. Yields of the other crops are 
in the same proportion. Cow peas are sown follow- 
ing wheat and have plenty of time for maturity. 
Corn follows wheat and is used for silage. The long 
growing and grazing seasons make it especially adapt- 
able for live-stock raising. Many pure-bred live-stock 
breeders are located in this territory. 

The land lies as level as a floor and is fast being 
developed and there are wonderful opportunities for 
men who want to farm. Hard surface road systems 
are being constructed throughout the entire territory 
and a plan is now on to make the trunk line roads 
of concrete. 

Every county in the district has a farm bureau 
and a county agent. The eight county farm 
bureaus are federated into one organization known 
as the Southeast Missouri Agricultural Bureau, with 
headquarters at Sikeston. This organization com- 
bines the interest of the farmer and the business 
men and has to do with the complete development of 
the section. 

Central Missouri 

The region south of the Missouri River is so new 
that it can hardly be said even now that it has been 
fully discovered, for only a beginning has been made 
in the great work of its development. 



33 



M 



1 s s o u r 1 



the St 



ate 



f Diversified Plenty 




A typical Missouri Ozark farm, showing results from intelligent farming. Millions of undeveloped acres are awaiting the 

molding hand of the home-maker 



Here are the richest of the Missouri Valley lands, 
here are the finest hill lands along the Missouri bluffs, 
here are the most beautiful parts of the Ozarks, and, 
beyond the hills and streams, are miles and miles of 
the rich, black prairies that stretch away to the 
Kansas line — lands that until a short time ago were 
isolated from the railroads and little known to the 
eye of the homeseeker. This is a new corner of an 
old and proven country. You will find here in an 
undeveloped state the same kind of land that is 
producing big crops in northern Missouri, you will 
find the same kind of hills, awaiting the orchardist, 
that are everywhere yielding big crops of fruit, and 
you will find the same grain soils that in older sec- 
tions command fancy prices — you will find all these 
lands at the right kind of prices. What the country 
needs is people. 

The point that you want to get here at the outset 
of your investigations is that these lands are right 
in the very center of the nation and right in the 
middle of one of the greatest agricultural states. 
You know what this means to the farmer — markets 
and good prices for his products. 

The country for 150 miles west of St. Louis is 
mainly a rugged hill country, much cut up by streams. 
The chief rivers are the Bourbeuse, the Gasconade 
and the Osage. The Gasconade is a deep set, swiftly 
flowing mountain stream. The Bourbeuse flows 
through a hilly country, particularly adapted to fruit. 
The Osage rises in southwest Kansas and flows north 



and east in a tortuous course, emptying into the 
Missouri. Each of these streams is largely supplied 
by numerous smaller streams, largely fed by fine 
springs. The many streams make most of the land 
very hilly. Where the land has not been cleared, 
it is heavily wooded, chiefly oak. 

There are numberless rolling, well-drained fields 
on the hill tops, some of them with a large acreage, 
and other small patches of clearing among the trees. 
The river and creek bottoms are usually narrow. 
The mountainous character of the country, the 
wooded hills and the clear, spring-fed, rapid-flowing 
streams give much of this country great scenic beauty. 

The land in the western sections is largely rolling 
prairie, frequently interspersed with uneven hilly sec- 
tions. It is well watered and well wooded. There 
are many streams with narrow valleys and the most 
productive areas are the rich rolling uplands. The 
cultivated areas are thoroughly cleared of trees, brush 
and stumps and are farmed in large fields, the same 
as in prairie countries. The raw land is thickly 
wooded, largely with oak. 

The entire territory is a natural bluegrass country. 
In the raw lands, wherever timber is thinned or the 
land is cleared, bluegrass spreads over the cultivated 
pastures and meadows without artificial seeding. The 
soil is chiefly a loam underlaid with a red limestone 
clay. The rougher lands are flinty. Some of the 
most hilly land is unfit for cultivation and some has 
very thin soil, but there are miles and miles of rich, 



34 



United States Railroad Administrati 



o n 




Direct from the orchard to the cars. Missouri apples are in demand all over the civilized world 



rolling upland under a high state of cultivation that 
has made its owners wealthy from their horses, mules, 
fat cattle, hogs and poultry and from the wheat and 
com. There are extensive areas of well-timbered land 
that, when cleared, will be very productive. 

You can live in a country where the grass is green 
seven months in the year, where the average snow- 
fall is only eighteen inches — ^just enough to let you 
know it is winter, and where the cold spells are short. 

You can select rich, rolling land with a sightly 
place among grand old trees for your home. You 
can have a clear spring-fed stream through your pas- 
ture and shade trees for your cows. When your family 
want a vacation, they can have good fishing and 
hunting. You can supply your table from your own 
farm with apples, peaches, plums and berries. 

Missourians are home loving. There is a home for 
every five persons in the State. 

The health of the people on the prairies and in 
the hills is not excelled. The girls and women are 
particularly robust. The U. S. Bureau of Ethnology 
found that native Missourians are stronger and 
taller than the native citizens of any other state. 
The pure air, the good water, the abundance of sun- 
shine and the always good living are responsible for 
the health and vigor. 

Deer, quail, squirrels and wild turkeys are plentiful 
in the hill lands and the numberless streams afford 
good fishing. 

The development of Central and Southeast Missouri 
has just begun. GO AND LOOK THE LAND OVER. 



COMPETING MARKETS 

There on the east is St. Louis, with its 700,000 or more people, 
its factories and industries! There on the west are Kansas City 
and St. Joseph, with their factories, wholesale houses and pack- 
ing plants. North and south are other cities, and all around are 
busy, hustling towns where the farmer can sell at a good profit 
his cattle and grain, his fruit and truck, his butter and eggs. 

The Southeast and Central Missouri country, on account of 
the cheap land, mild climate and cheap pasture and feed, has 
special advantages for supplying the great southern markets. 
Florida, particularly in the winter tourist season, is a large con- 
sumer of Missouri dairy and poultry products, also New England 
and the Middle States. 

Through Kansas City the three largest cities in Colorado — 
Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo — are reached direct by 
all the western trunk lines. Colorado people buy from states 
east $5,000,000 worth of dairy products a year. Over half of 
the dairy products used in New Mexico are shipped in and 
Texas people are heavy buyers of dairy products from other 
states. Southeast and Central Missouri have direct connection 
with all these great markets. 



V.\C.\TION OUTINGS IN THE NATIONAL PARKS 

"The Nation's Plajfirounds" 

YOUR National Parks are a vast region of peaks, canyons, 
glaciers, geysers, big trees, volcanoes, prehistoric ruins and other 
natural scenic wonders. 
\'isit them this summer — for fishing, mountain climbing and 
"roughing it." Ask for descriptive illustrated booklet of the 
National Park or National Monument you are specially inter- 
ested in — here is the list; Crater Lake. Ore.: Glacier, Mont.; 
Grand Canyon. Ariz.; Hawaii; Hot Springs. Ark.; Mesa Verde, 
Colo.; Mt. Rainier. Wash.; Petrified Forest, Ariz.; Rocky 
Mountain. Colo.; Sequoia, Cal.; Yellowstone, Wyo.; Yosemite, 
Cal., and Zion, Utah. 

Address 

Travel Bureau, U. S. Railroad Administration 

646 Transportation Bldg., Chicago, 111., or 

143 Liberty St., New York City, or 

602 Healey BIdg., Atlanta, Ga. 






Missouri — the State of Diversified Plenty 



:%.^:iA, 




tmmm^ 



rr" 



yy^ 



ili^iinjMjt' 



MISSOURI wins more Mule and Jack prizes in public stock shows and fairs 

than any other state or nation 



Issued by 



United States Railroad Administration 
AGRICULTURAL SECTION 

J. L. EDWARDS, Manager 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 

FOR THE USE OF ALL RAILROADS 
IN THE STATE OF MISSOURI 

For Further Irtformalion address 



POOLE BROS.. CHICAGO 



'-:< 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



003 192 349 9, 



